Beach Blanket, Hot Mits...Beautiful Utility

Oh it's so exciting when I finish a project...particularly when it's something that has taken some effort, like my upcycled T-shirt quilts. Well loved fabrics canbe partiularly challenging to piece because they don't like to hold their shape and you need to be very gentle and patient when cutting, fitting and stitching. Even when you take your time it's all too easy to get puckers and pulls. Sometimes you just have to accept the flaws and celebrate the utility of the object. This moring in the shower I decided I was going to finish my latest T-shirt quilt today. Here we are, not even noon and I have it done! This one is going to be great for laying out and sunning my tits in the garden or hanging out at the beach. In addition to the old T-shirts of Omar's and mine, I also used old beach towels. So, this blanket is ready to wick away sweat and ocean water while also looking super cool. PLUS all these textiles have been saved from taking up space in the landfil. Everyone's a winner! LOVE IT!

Last week I also threw together a few oven mit sets to put up for sale in TKPR Market. Who knows, perhaps I will be making a few more of these for Holiday gifts this winter...I still have a ton of fabric scraps and thread. All I need to pick up is some more Insul Brite. Or maybe I'm gonna throw together a couple more jelly rolled patchwork quilts. I'm hoping to get a figure model out to the ranch in the near future so I can start placing figures in my real work once again. These utilitarian things are nice and all, but this is not Art. It's merely utility, and that is craft with a small letter "c". Nothing wrong with it AT ALL. It's just not my idea of intellectual, serious creative, or spiritual pursuit.

So...

I hear there's gonna be some baseball this summer! Guess I'm gonna need to mark my calendar. It's been a minute, but I think just about everyone in America has time for the Great American Past-time these days. Patent Leather Gene sure does....